What is the SK?
The SK is an acronym for "Schormanns-Kaitoke" -a walk the length of the Tararuas starting at Putara road-end (near Eketetahuna) and ending up at Kaitoke. To qualify as an "S-K tramper" apparently you need to do this in a weekend, or if you are even more crazy, walk the route non-stop in about 24 hours (without sleep). However, we took a more civilised approach to this route, and walked the 62 km valley route over a perid of 3 1/2 days over Anzac weekend 2006.Putara - Roaring Stag Lodge
After arriving at the Putara road-end at 9pm we grabbed our headlamps and began walking up to the new Roaring Stag Lodge. A couple of members of the party required battery changes en-route, but regardless of this we made it to our destination just before midnight where the two occupants of the hut kindly made room for the seven late arrivals (plus Glynne, our bus driver who walked in with us, and walked back out again the next morning). Thanks for the ride Glynne!
Roaring Stag Lodge - Campsite, Waingawa River
After an early start ensuring that sleep was limited, we headed down the Ruamahanga River to join the track towards Cow Creek near Cleft Stream. Severe storm damage made the track difficult to follow so we used our compasses to find our way to Cow Saddle before descending down to Cow Creek Hut. It looked all action when we arrived at Cow Creek Hut, but it turned out to only be SAR excericise rather than a "real" operation. The original plan to head up Table Ridge to Tarn Ridge Hut was eventually abandoned due to the reduced daylight available without daylight savings. Instead we headed down the Waingawa River and fly camped on the river flats for the night.
Campsite, Waingawa River - Atiwhakatu Hut
The majority of the party were woken in the early hours of the morning as the breeze had picked up a "little" and overnight there was some damage to the large fly. It provided a great opportunity to verify the manufacturer's claims and perform our own wind-tunnel test on our Huntech two-man bivvy which survived the conditions unscathed. After a relatively quick breakfast due to strong wind conditions, we began criss-crossing the Waingawa River and made our way towards Mitre Flats Hut. An early lunch was had at Mitre Flats Hut, and entertainment was provided in the form of the SAR helicopter landing and then taking off again in front of the hut (part of the SAR exercise we came across at lunch-time yesterday). Following lunch, we climbed up from Mitre Flats hut, sidled around a number of gully systems, encountered some attractive bush, and after crossing the footbridge, headed towards Atawhakatu Hut on the Atawhakatu Track. Once past the footbridge, the track was well-graded, and allowed for fast travel. We arrived at Atawhakatu Hut about 3.30pm. The lack of sleep last night must have taken its toll - it was decided that we would stop here, rest, prepare dinner and chill out for the evening. The area outside the hut is ideal for this purpose - a nice communal area near the river, where we could enjoy the experience of the camp-fire (thanks to Dirk's enthusiasm), that was until the smoke kept blowing into our faces, and it was soon extinguished.
Atiwhakatu Hut - Tutuwai Hut
It was great to stay in a hut after the windy night on the river flats last night. We had a big day ahead, with the aim of making it Tutuwai Hut. Our day started with a nice easy-going stroll (apart from negotiating a well-established slip) along the track, and then a steady climb took us from the Atawhakatu Track up towards Mountain House Shelter. After a quick break, we took a short-cut just up the track from the shelter on to the track leading to Totara Flats Hut. The route towards Totara Flats is a continual descent over tree routes until you reach Totara Creek. The track then follows the creek, until a rather long swing-bridge is crossed, taking us across the Waiohine River. Totara Flats hut is as palatial as ever, and after a quick stop-off for water we were soon on our way across the flats of the Waiohine River. It wasn't until we started to ascend towards Cone Saddle that we had any significant climbing - the long climb that followed soon made up for this. Even our leader needed a number of jelly-beans to sustain enough energy over this long slog. Part of this involved sidling around a number of streams and gullies. We were pleased to reach Cone Saddle - especially as there was no more climbing to be done for the rest of the day. However, the warm humid weather was very draining on one's energy levels. We descended towards Cone Hut, the last part of the descent requiring head-torches as daylight had all but gone. After a quick rest at Cone, we continued on under head-light to Tutuwai Hut. Apart from a few slips to negotiate, travel was straight-forward, and it took just over an hour in the dark to complete our planned day's route. We joined two friendly hunters at the hut who were happy to share their gas light - this made preparing dinner after an 11 hour day a little easier.
Tutuwai Hut - Kaitoke
The last few hours of our journey involved crossing the Tauherenikau River, and following this towards Smith Creek Shelter. We knew that the track wasn't in the best of state, so followed the river for some time until near the site of the previous footbridge. We then scrambled up a steep bank, put on our rain-coats (for the first time in the trip) and followed the track (including admiring the new swingbridge a lot further up-stream near the Marchant Stream) until we reached Smiths Creek Shelter. By now, the rain had set in, and we were all pretty soaked. After a quick rest at the very welcome Smiths Creek Shelter, we headed on over the slip, and climbed up towards Puffer Saddle. The last part of the trip in more open areas was very wet. We were very pleased to see Glynne in the WTMC bus waiting for us at the Marchant road-end. It was also nice to be out early, allowing for the afternoon to clean-up and recover.